Optimizing spectroscopic and photometric galaxy surveys: Efficient target selection and survey strategy

Abstract

The next generation of spectroscopic surveys will have a wealth of photometric data available for use in target selection. Selecting the best targets is likely to be one of the most important hurdles in making these spectroscopic campaigns as successful as possible. Our ability to measure dark energy depends strongly on the types of targets that we are able to select with a given photometric data set. We show in this paper that we will be able to successfully select the targets needed for the next generation of spectroscopic surveys. We also investigate the details of this selection, including optimization of instrument design and survey strategy in order to measure dark energy. We use colour-colour selection as well as neural networks to select the best possible emission-line galaxies and luminous red galaxies for a cosmological survey. Using the Fisher matrix formalism, we forecast the efficiency of each target selection scenarios. We show how the dark energy figures of merit change in each target selection regime as a function of target type, survey time, survey density and other survey parameters. We outline the optimal target selection scenarios and survey strategy choices which will be available to the next generation of spectroscopic surveys © 2014 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.